The Mellum Papers consist of correspondence, speeches, brief diary entries, autobiographical and other writings, and a tape-recorded interview. Organized into a file of general correspondence and other papers and into several subject files, the papers present a picture of a man of integrity and civic consciousness. However in many areas, the materials are rather fragmentary and ceremonial in nature. They best document Mellum's youth and his military activities.
The General Correspondence includes both business and personal correspondence and contains letters to his mother written while Mellum was in school and in Cuba, papers on the Morgan Park Military Academy Alumni Association, and many letters concerning civic appointments and speeches. A few speeches are filed here with related correspondence rather than in the Subject File. Other non-correspondence items include typed diary entries from his weeks in Cuba, conference and dinner programs, certificates, and report cards.
